BMW.SG | BMW Singapore Owners Community The Ultimate BMW Community – Established Since 2001
Configurators are live for both the 2027 BMW X5 and the 2027 Audi Q7, which means the spec sheets are finally out in the open. Neither has turned a wheel in anger for the press yet. Even so, the numbers tell a story, and it is a far closer one than the last time these two squared up. The outgoing X5 walked this fight. Its replacement will have to work rather harder.
Audi has needed the reset. The Q7 soldiered on for nine years before this redesign, and the new car pushes decisively upmarket. The entry-level four-cylinder is gone. In its place sits a 2.9-litre twin-turbo V6 making 429 horsepower and 442 lb-ft, which is stronger than the old mid-range six. An eight-speed automatic and quattro all-wheel drive are standard; the sheet metal is smoother, and the lighting clusters have grown teeth. Even in base trim, the cabin is stacked, with an 11.9-inch instrument cluster, a 14.5-inch central touchscreen and a 12.3-inch display for the passenger. Seven seats come as standard, or six with captain’s chairs in the middle row, and folding everything flat liberates 78.1 cubic feet.
The X5 is a bigger leap still. This is no facelift of the 2019 car but a proper Neue Klasse reset, and it will phase in over the coming months. The range opens with the 40 xDrive, powered by the latest take on BMW’s B58 3.0-litre turbocharged straight-six. It produces 394 horsepower and 428 lb-ft of torque with 48-volt mild-hybrid assistance, driving all four wheels through an eight-speed automatic. A rear-drive sDrive follows, along with a 483-horsepower 50e xDrive and a 570-horsepower electric iX5 60 xDrive. Inside, a 17.9-inch touchscreen pairs with a slim display band stretching along the base of the windscreen. Adaptive cruise and lane-keep assist are standard, while a 14.6-inch passenger screen and an 18-speaker Harman Kardon setup sit on the options list.
Line the two up and Audi lands the first punch. The Q7 is quicker to 60mph at 4.8 seconds against 5.1 for the X5, and it holds a modest power advantage. Towing is effectively a dead heat, at 7,700lb for the Audi and 7,710lb for the BMW. Fuel figures are still pending, though history suggests the B58 will sip more gently than the V6. Reliability is the other open question. The old X5 comfortably outlasted the old Q7 over five years of ownership, but both cars are clean-sheet designs now, so that record counts for less than it used to.
So where does that leave things? The Q7 has the practicality trump card with its third row, and on paper it has closed the performance gap entirely. The X5 should still be the keener steerer, it should be the more efficient long-haulier, and its tech suite is the more ambitious of the two. Buyers needing more than five seats will have to look to the X7 instead. For now, the Audi edges ahead on the data alone. The verdict that matters, though, will only arrive once both are on a decent road.
